The Roman Battleship RES "Caesar", flagship of the Roman Navy, and her task force were out in the Atlantic raiding Gaulish convoys when they were given the info on the relief fleet moving down to Lapurdum from Lilliebonne and were ordered to engage immediately, knowing the distance they would have to cover would let the Gauls get to the trapped troops before the fleet would arrive, Nauarchus Constantine Pius, the commander of the squadron, ordered a detachment of smaller ships to steam ahead and slow down the oncoming fleet. After 2 days of travel the fleet had reached the bay around Lapurdum, radio calls to the detachment were met with silence but explosions were heard in the distance of the foggy seas, Constantine ordered his ships toward the sounds, finding fuel spills, corpses, and wreckage as his squadron approached, soon the fog gave way as the last two battered ships of the detachment were seen being pounded by shell after shell from the Gaulish relief fleet."They've slowed them down, but at what cost?" Remarked Constantine, seeing his detachment fight with desperation, "A cost we shouldn't let go unpaid" remarked his Centurion. "Right you are Centurion, Helmsman! Bring us into close range, I want clear sight of those enemy vessels for our fire control, Trumpeter! Order all hands to battle stations, and get main guns aimed 75 degrees off the port side and ranged for two thousand yards. Spotters, what do we have in terms of enemy vessels?" "Two cruisers and a few destroyers are all we see at the moment, all look damaged to some degree, no sign of the Vercingetorix though sir" the spotter reports. "Understood, once we engage she won't be long, keep an eye out, and as soon as she comes into view let me know. Alright, men, this battle is the linchpin of this part of the campaign, we sink these transports, the army of those bastard Gauls is gonna be struck a serious blow, giving our boys on land an easier time pushing further north, plus we can finally do what we planned to do during the last war with these bastards, today we get our prize, today Caesar will make Vercingetorix kneel once more! Roma Invicta!!!" Constantine shouted, "Roma Aeternum!!" the crew responded.
As the squadron pulls forward, the remains of the damaged detachment peel back seeing their incoming relief, the destroyers of the squadron speeding past them and sending out a torpedo attack as the Caesar and her cruisers send out their first salvos, sending spouts of water from the shells that missed, and shattering hulls from those that hit. For five minutes the squadron rains hell on the enemy force, sinking ship after ship either in explosive wonder or causing them to capsize from taking so much water, but still no sign of their prize. As the final crippled ships of the Gaul's are about to break and sink, a shout comes over the sound of the guns, "Vercingetorix spotted! Starboard side!" Through the fog, an immense form came into view, her grand flag fluttering in the growing wind, her guns aimed straight at the squadron, spouting the flames of a fired salvo. "BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Shouted Constantine as the shells rained down on the squadron, luckily most missed with only one hitting Caesar's armor belt, others scraping the hull, and one of the cruisers took a direct hit to her bow, as the crew began to recover, Vercingetorix's secondaries let loose as well. Constantine rights himself as more shells rain on his vessel "Helmsman, get us in line with that ship. Trumpeter, I want the main guns on target of the Vercingetorix, Centurion, get the cruisers in formation for a line battle with this bastard, let the destroyers mop up the rest of the relief fleets protection. This is what we've been waiting for men, the fight of our lifetime, LETS TAKE OUR FUCKING PRIZE, ROMA INVICTA!!!" "ROMA AETERNUM!!!" Replies the crew, Caesar's guns turn and return fire on the massive beast, blasts littering her decks and hull but doing little to dissuade her as she returned fire with vigor, managing to find her targets quickly only after a couple of salvos, soon striking one of the cruiser's ammo storage, ripping her asunder with all hands. Luckily the destroyers managed to mop up the last battered ships of the relief fleet in quick order and joined the line battle, even the crippled destroyers of the original detachment joined in, delivering what bit of damage they could in an attempt to gain some honor for helping to bring down such a foe. But Caesar was feeling the hurt of the Vercingetorix's wrath, and with another boom of thunder from her guns, struck Ceasar's rear main gun battery, sending flames and smoke pluming. "Sir, guns are reporting their running low on shells, they have enough for a few more salvos but that's all" Shouts the Centurion, "Can anything be salvaged from the rear battery?" Constantine replies with desperation, "No sir, all hands in that area perished and crew had to close down the bulkheads to avoid a detonation in the amm storage." The centurion says with a grim look across his face, "Then we better make what we have count, we still need something to sink the transports with, Trumpeter! Let the guns kno-" Constatine is cut off as he sees of the starboard side, the destroyers making a dash toward the Vercingetorix. "What in Neptune's name are they doing! Get me on the horn with them!" "Yessir!" "Apulia, this is Ceasar, what in the name of the gods are you doing?!" A reply in a steady tone returns "That ship won't die by just shells alone, and these seas are too rough for torpedoes to be accurate at range, were going to get as close as we can and launch every single torpedo we have at them." Constantine sputters as he hears the suicidal plan, one of the crippled destroyers catches a round to her engines, sending a massive explosion of flame pluming from her rear, then a volley of secondary guns litter her hull, killing any crew on her deck, "That's a suicide mission, you'll be ripped to shreds after your first fucking volley" A sigh of acknowledgment of the inevitable comes over the radio, "If that's what Rome demands of us, then we will go to Neptune's embrace gladly, Roma Invicta, Nauarchus" Constantine looks dreadfully at the soon to be sunken destroyer's, "Roma Aeternum, Trierarchus."
The destroyers steamed ahead, guns blazing as they approached, Vercingetorix not making their approach unquestioned as her secondaries boomed toward them, some striking, but most missing, as if by some miracle no other ship was lost on the approach as the destroyers turned and loosed a massive salvo of torpedoes at the vessel, a moment of bliss, then a massive plume of water went up the Vercingetorix's portside as the torpedoes found their mark, but as the water returned to the sea, a cascade of fire was given back at the destroyers, sinking three in one blow, wounding the rest, but they kept fighting, turning hard and letting loose another salvo from their other side, aimed at the engines of their enemy, sending another plume of water which was soon followed by a massive explosion that rocked the Vercingetorix, leaving her engines crippled. A cry of joy came from the bridge crew of Caesar, but was cut short as another salvo came from Vercingetorix, putting to rest all destroyers but Apulia, who had flames littering her deck and hull, stern sinking low and almost under the waves, she turned hard straight toward the Vercingetorix, taking all fire that came at her, more fire plumed from her but she kept sailing, the radio crackled to life with the Trierarchus's voice, "Today we go to the god's with pride, today we die in the name of a reborn Roman Empire, today we sink this bastard, it won't be by our hands, but by the hands of Rome, by the hands of the one that bested Vercingetorix millennia ago, ROMA INVICTA, ROMA AETERNUM!!!" Apulia slams into the hull of Vercingetorix, sliding up her side as if she was trying to climb upon her deck, but with a grand splendor, she detonates. Constantine looks on with sorrow at the sacrifice of his men, wondering if it would make the difference, but as the smoke cleared he saw that it would, a massive hole had been made in the upper decks of Vercingetorix, showing her now exposed ammo cache, on the deck her crew can be seen scrambling to plug the hole, move the ammo, do something to not have such a breach. Constantine straightens as he sees what must be done, "Helmsman, hard to port, I want us heading dead on with that hull breach on the Vercingetorix, Trumpeter, get all guns facing straight forward and tell the main batteries to hold fire, secondaries are to suppress the main batteries of the Vercingetorix, we can take the damage from the secondaries'' The centurion looks at Constantine confused as the sailors get to work with the orders, "What in Jupiter's name are you planning Constantine?" Constantine doesn't look at his Centurion, a stern look plastered across his face, "This ship was fitted with a ram for a reason centurion, Neptune graced our destroyers with the damage they've done, by his grace we can hope he will let these seas guide us to our target and let our gunners strike true" The Centurion nods as the Caesars bow faces dead on with Vercingetorix, "Should I ready the marines for a boarding action then?" "No, god's willing we'll kill this blasted vessel in one decisive blow. Trumpeter, tell the cruisers to get after the relief fleet, even if this fails the more transports we sink the less there are to pull those Gauls out of Lapurdum. Full speed ahead Helmsman!" Caesar cuts through the waves, the crack of lightning is heard and seen as the waves raise and lower the battleships, Vercingetorix unloading all she can toward Caesar, but the waves catch all those that don't ping of her armor, Caesar's secondary cannons blast with all the fury they can, managing to set one of Vercingetorix's front batteries ablaze. As Caesar gets all the closer to Vercingetorix, her full dreadful form comes into view, barrel flashes cascading across her side as the fires on her stern and bow burn, "I want all crew below decks, even you lot on the bridge" Constantine shouts over the booms of the guns, "I can handle the helm and I only need the radio to order the batteries to fire, if things go right any sailor above decks is going to meet a nasty end."
The crew gives their acknowledgements and with the centurion's enforcement, they vacate the bridge, sailors on the deck hurry below. Constantine gives final orders for the guns as Caesar bares down on Vercingetorix, "Men, today we secure vengeance for all the lives and land lost to these barbarian bastards over the centuries, today we secure an easier path of conquest for our legions on land, today we show the world the light of Rome will blaze again, today we make Vercingetorix kneel before Caesar once more, today we show these Gaulish bastards that Rome will never be conquered again, that Rome will return to her rightful domain, ROMA INVICTA, ROMA AETERNUM!!!" Caesar rises above the waves, Vercingetorix's exposed hull laid before her, Caesar's ram slams into the side of her, diving deep inside, the force of Caesar's ram pressing against her, tilting her to a near capsizing angle. The force of the ram threw the Gaulish crew off the decks and around the bulkheads as Vercingetorix's exposed ammo came into clear view of the guns, "FIRE!" Constantine shouted into the radio and as if the guns themselves were tied to his voice they erupted in a cacophony of fire, unleashing their fury, a half-second of silence rests in the world as the shells find their purchase, then a deafening explosion rips across the hull, the shockwave shatters the glass of the bridge, shards digging into Constantine's flesh and the shockwave sends Constantine flying back, knocking him unconscious.